Jasper officer tied to missing funds resigns

Updated 5:09 pm, Wednesday, March 22, 2017

A Jasper police officer accused of stealing $500 from the Jasper Police Association has resigned, the department announced Wednesday in a news release.

Officer Wanda Brister was the president of the Jasper Police Association, which is separate from the department and made up of officers and other city employees, Chief Gerald Hall said in the release.

JPD launched an internal investigation on March 7 after association members reported possible unauthorized charges in the group's accounts.

The investigation found that in 2015 and 2016, Brister used funds from the association seven times for personal transactions, totaling $471.26, Hall said. The money had been collected from the group's fundraisers and membership dues, he said

The association, whose members were not involved in conducting the investigation, "collectively agreed that no criminal charges were to be filed on Brister," if she reimbursed the group for the money taken, according to Hall.

She voluntarily resigned from the Jasper Police Association "when confronted with the initial investigation," Hall said. Shewas asked to resign from the department "due to policy violations," according to Hall.

"I have worked with the board members of the association to put procedures in place" so this doesn't happen again, said Hall. "I have also worked with board members to see that a set of checks and balances are enacted."

Brister was named the Texas DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Officer of the Year in 2014.